Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone could give me tips on soft processing? I will give a couple of examples of what I mean. It is a look that I really love. @angievega This shot along with many more of hers..... @indiannie_jones
Hi Mary, I use photoshop lightroom and i uploaded a retro preset for this shot and also increased the luminance...the combination of both these techniques was the result of this shot.
I could be completely wrong, but I can tell you what I have found works....
I try to soften my pictures by desaturating and lowering the clarity in photoshop or Lightroom.
It also looks like in the pictures above they may have used a high aperture? The focus seems to be on the cat's face and then softens out from there.
And the keys are in a plane closer to the camera than the background...so they pop against the blurred background.
Sorry for the non-technical language...I am not a pro.
If You have lightroom, it's awesome to fiddle with split tones, clarity, and brightness for different feels. You can probably find tutorials on split toning online. My photo today was processed with a purple/yellow split tone that I love to use.
Thank you all so much!! @angievega@cohare@sdpace I have lightroom, but I haven't messed with it much. I will have to practice with it. I have been using Photoshop and Photoscape. Now I want to go try out some tricks on lightroom!
Howdy :) I have to admit, my lens does all the work. I fiddle only with the colors in my photos, the majority of the time. Maybe the softer colors give the illusion too?
@cdford@indiannie_jones@aliciastacy Thanks all so much! I am playing with lightroom a little. Annie, what kind of lens do you use?
Alicia, I will make note of Hazy Baby. :)
a lot of it has to do with the lens like @indiannie_jones said...if I'm not mistaken these are done with 50mm lenses or at least a lens that can open to a wide aperture like a 1.8 or 1.4 so that if it is wide open, the depth of field is shallow, making that lovely beautiful bokeh in the background. Do you have a lens like that?
Oh and also the desaturated look works for that too...only bump the saturation down slightly. Um.....oh yeah and also go to thecoffeeshopblog.com and look up some photoshop actions there, some of those make some really killer antique-y and soft photos.
@amyhughes Yeah I have the 50 mm lens. I will have to get some photoshop actions and play around. Thanks so much Amy. Here is the one that I played with. It isn't exactly what I was going for, but I do kind of like the turn out. What do you all think?
If I were shooting a dandelion, my aperture would be at f/2.5 most probably, with a fast shutter. In post-processing, I would eliminate the green; not a fan of bold, dark colors outdoors.
Like this, for instance:
The colors here aren't what I would usually go for but I did tint it (yellow), if memory serves, to avoid having that green/black overwhelm the shot.
As @amyhughes said, I use my 50mm 1.4 for the majority of my photos, usually at f/2.8 or wider, depending on the lighting available.
@marydreams I love it! It's great. You should even try to bump the saturation down or even the contrast and see if that softens the whole look too. I love contrasty pop, but sometimes the photo just lends itself to low contrast or low saturation.
@indiannie_jones@amyhughes You two are awesome!! Thank you so much for your tips and being honest with me!! I will try some of your suggestions!! I am taking notes and heading to the zoo today!! :)
Here is a new version. If I would have had the camera set to the correct aperture...etc...I'm sure it would look better. But I did soften it. My problem is that it seems to lose some definition when I do this. I guess that lends itself to the camera setting???
@marydreams
wow i've been out of it but you definitely made a huge difference with the before and after picture. soon you won't be needing our advice and you might be paying it forward....
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
what do you use for editing?
thanks :)
I try to soften my pictures by desaturating and lowering the clarity in photoshop or Lightroom.
It also looks like in the pictures above they may have used a high aperture? The focus seems to be on the cat's face and then softens out from there.
And the keys are in a plane closer to the camera than the background...so they pop against the blurred background.
Sorry for the non-technical language...I am not a pro.
Alicia, I will make note of Hazy Baby. :)
Oh and also the desaturated look works for that too...only bump the saturation down slightly. Um.....oh yeah and also go to thecoffeeshopblog.com and look up some photoshop actions there, some of those make some really killer antique-y and soft photos.
If I were shooting a dandelion, my aperture would be at f/2.5 most probably, with a fast shutter. In post-processing, I would eliminate the green; not a fan of bold, dark colors outdoors.
Like this, for instance:
The colors here aren't what I would usually go for but I did tint it (yellow), if memory serves, to avoid having that green/black overwhelm the shot.
As @amyhughes said, I use my 50mm 1.4 for the majority of my photos, usually at f/2.8 or wider, depending on the lighting available.
Here is a new version. If I would have had the camera set to the correct aperture...etc...I'm sure it would look better. But I did soften it. My problem is that it seems to lose some definition when I do this. I guess that lends itself to the camera setting???
wow i've been out of it but you definitely made a huge difference with the before and after picture. soon you won't be needing our advice and you might be paying it forward....